First Flood Relief

In early October, 2010, two consecutive floods inflicted heavy damage to Central Âu Lạc, particularly Vũ Quang and Cẩm Xuyên districts of Hà Tĩnh province, causing loss of property and lives. To comfort the suffering people, our relief team from Northern Âu Lạc used the US$10,000 provided by Supreme Master Ching Hai plus US$7,200 from our Association members and distributed food as well as monetary gifts to a total of 296 households in the villages of Cẩm Vịnh, Đức Hưng and Đức Liên during the three-day relief effort.

The recipients were extremely touched by Master’s kindness and listened carefully to Association members’ explanation of the root cause of such disasters and the way to curb them. Speaking on behalf of their people, the local leaders expressed heartfelt appreciation for Master’s loving concern.

The Second Flood Relief

In the early morning of October 24, upstream in the Lũy River, the heaviest rains since 1996 caused unexpected flash flooding in Lương Sơn of Bắc Bình district, southern Bình Thuận province, damaging a major highway, submerging 1,000 homes, and destroying almost 100 hectares of crops. The next day, flood tides that made the Sài Gòn River overflow left more than 20 streets in the city submerged, with many citizens having to use pumps to remove water from their homes after the sandbag barriers failed to stop the flooding. In the middle of November, more torrential rain brought hardship to the lives of the people in the southern and central provinces.

With deep sympathy, Supreme Master Ching Hai immediately provided relief funding of US$10,000. With an additional US$9,000 contribution from our Association members, relief work was carried out by our local members from November 14 to December 10. Besides giving cash envelopes to affected families, they delivered some 1,065 gift packages containing various essential supplies such as food, blankets, pieces of tarpaulin for temporary roofing, as well as sweets and notebooks for children.

We are thankful for Supreme Master Ching Hai’s unconditional love and we pray for the protection of the affected Aulacese people. We wish them a quick recovery to their regular day-to-day lives as we all awaken to the need to do our part in caring for the Earth and her inhabitants.

Thank you letters from local government officials

*Throughout the relief operation, team members paid for their own food, transportation and accommodation expenses.